


Can you have a ‘thing’ for a complete stranger?

by Eowima



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (eventually :D), (that's my favorite tag), ALL THE FLUFF, Adorable FitzSimmons (Agents of SHIELD), Also includes: Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at Sci-Ops, Awkward Flirting, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Jemma Simmons Has No Chill, Nerdy Flirting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, because how amazing are those, even I drowned in it and I'm very pro-fluff, flirting in Doctor Who, flirting in Morse Code WHAT, flirting in awkward compliments, they're both bad at it but perfect for each other, yet another meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27617081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eowima/pseuds/Eowima
Summary: “Nice phone case.”She’s already out of the elevator and turns to him with a surprised smile. “Oh! Thank you.”The doors are already closing again, and her brown eyes stay on him as they do. When he’s alone again in the tiny space, he looks down at his shoes with another grin, replaying the scene in his mind.Or: The first time he sees her, she’s waiting in front of the elevator at Sci-Ops.The second time she sees him is a little later that day.The third time he sees her, he wasnotexpecting it at all.The fourth time she sees him, shewashaving a really bad day.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 39
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> Here's chapter 1 of this tooth-rotting piece of fluff that I wrote last night! Chapter 2 is written, and chapter 3 will soon be, expect them before the end of the week!  
> Enjoy! :)

The first time he sees her, she’s waiting in front of the elevator at Sci-Ops.

He hesitates for a second then stops at her side, waiting for the elevator doors to open as well.

She gives him a look and a polite nod, and he notices the warmth behind her brown eyes, the light freckles on her nose, the pale tone of her skin, the beautiful chocolate curls framing her face, the soft curve of her neck and the golden pendant around it.

It’s an early Monday morning, and he’s tired, and grumpy, and he’s been hating himself for 36 hours for agreeing to go out with Mack Saturday night because his hangover never really got away, but meeting this woman’s warm gaze makes it all slightly less terrible all of a sudden. He thinks to himself she is probably the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his entire life.

Obviously he doesn’t tell her that.

The elevator doors open, and he steps inside behind her, pushing the level 5 button after she pressed the level 3 one, which is for the Biochemistry level if he remembers correctly – he does. He wonders if she’s new here, wonders if she’s a consultant, a Biologist, or a Biochemist, and if she’s one of those that loves dissecting things – yikes, he hopes not. Maybe she’s a new intern. He’s always been crap at guessing anyone’s age. She looks fairly young, maybe his age he thinks, oh but who is he kidding, that’s just wishful thinking really.

Not that it would change anything anyway, because obviously he’s not gonna talk to her.

Not because he doesn’t want to, but because he can’t. He’s always been extremely awkward, and shy, and manic, so attracting women’s attention is definitely not his strong suit. Making them feel awkward from a thousand meters away, that’s definitely more his gist.

It’s a pity, really.

She’s not saying anything either, and when he chances a glance at her around the middle of the second floor, he sees she’s looking at her phone. Her nose scrunches in an adorable way as she apparently reads something, and it makes his heart flutter just a little. He sighs internally because he’s being ridiculous.

Then he notices the very familiar blue phone case between her fingers, and cannot help his smile at that.

The elevator stops, and she takes her eyes off her phone. She glances at him too, and somehow seeing his grin she smiles back, a beautiful smile that lights up her features in the softest, warmest way ever. His heart flutters again, and as the doors open, he finds himself blurting words without even thinking them: “Nice phone case.”

She’s already out of the elevator and turns to him with a surprised smile. “Oh! Thank you.”

The doors are already closing again, and her brown eyes stay on him as they do. When he’s alone again in the tiny space, he looks down at his shoes with another grin, replaying the scene in his mind.

It’s a good thing to know that Monday mornings can be made noticeably less horrible by meeting a beautiful woman with a TARDIS phone case.

* * *

The second time she sees him is a little later that day.

She’s quietly following Agent Weaver as the woman gives her a tour of the facility, on her very first day at Sci-Ops. They’ve just made their way to the fifth floor, which her superior explains is the Engineering part of the lab, and she looks around with interest.

She catches sight of his light brown curls and she smiles to herself, remembering the scene earlier in the elevator. He’d been very quiet, and she’d been a little tensed because hello, first day at a new job, but having him compliment her TARDIS phone case set her at ease so incredibly fast that two hours later she still feels very thankful for it.

He’s sitting on a stool at one of the lab benches, working on what looks like a miniature drone. He turns around on his seat when he hears Agent Weaver’s voice, and she prepares herself to meet his striking blue eyes… and smiles when she doesn’t.

He’s wearing safety goggles that kind of makes him look like a crazy owl inventor, and she likes the way his lips form a quiet _oh_ when he sees her – oh but maybe it’s not at all seeing her that makes him do that, she scolds herself, maybe he’s surprised by Agent Weaver’s presence in this lab when she’s the head of the Biology department, that would probably make more sense.

She’s a little disappointed that Agent Weaver moves along fairly quickly and doesn’t introduce her to him. Then she sighs internally at her own thoughts, because she’s being ridiculous.

She can feel his eyes following her as she walks behind Agent Weaver, and it makes her heart do funny things in her chest, for some reason. ‘ _Some reason_ ’, she’s being awfully oblivious this morning, she obviously enjoys having caught the attention of a handsome man like him. Plus she’s pretty sure he’s Scottish, from the very few words he told her earlier, and it’s always nice to find a fellow British person when you live so far from home.

_Excuses excuses_ , she internally sing-songs to herself as the thought occurs to her.

She walks not too far from his bench and meets his eyes again. She nods and he nods too, politely, and then she can’t help herself. “Nice goggles,” she tells him, pinching her lips to hide her amused grin.

She’s a little thrilled when she sees his cheeks redden instantly at her words, she has to admit it. And when he snatches the goggles off his face and mumbles something in his beard, she cannot help her chuckle. She scurries behind Agent Weaver, but when she looks back one last time before exiting the Engineering lab, she sees he’s smiling, eyes back on his work and cheeks still a little pink.

It’s a good look on him, she thinks, then she forces herself to focus back on what Agent Weaver is currently explaining to her – and she’s glad she does, because she’s telling her that she will probably have to work closely with some of the engineers there on special projects.

Which is exciting.

Coming this morning, she knew she would love it here.

Meeting a cute Scottish engineer in the process is just a very nice, very unexpected bonus.

* * *

The third time he sees her, he was _not_ expecting it at all.

He’s just about to leave the gym, after having successfully ‘convinced’ Hunter and Mack that he actually does not need to work out at all. They haven’t been very difficult about it today, and he’s not entirely sure why, but he’s also deeply relieved because _ugh_. He didn’t even have to pretend to change or anything, just met with them, whined for a few minutes about how they force him to come, then left to let them go do one-hand push ups and whatnot.

He’s deep in thoughts, wondering what he’s going to order for dinner tonight, when he runs into her right at the gym’s entrance. He bumps into her shoulder and turns around, half pissed for a second before he recognizes her warm brown eyes. She’s frowning, probably a little upset from being run into like that, then a smile lights up her beautiful face when she recognizes him.

“Hi,” she tells him.

“Hi,” he says back.

There’s a silence, as they look at each other, and he is pretty sure he left his brain somewhere in the gym locker room because he cannot even begin to think about a coherent thing to say. She’s smiling still, while he doesn’t even know what he’s doing because he can’t seem to feel his face anymore. Must be the insane amount of blood that rushed to his cheeks the moment he realized it was her, he thinks.

He would slap himself to get out of his daze, but he thinks that would look weird.

There’s been talk in the last week about a brilliant biochemist joining the lab, and he’s pretty sure she’s the one. As in, the one brilliant new biochemist at Sci-Ops, of course. Maybe he should introduce himself, yes, that would be a good start. He doesn’t even know her name, how weird is that? Well, considering they’re not working in the same department, not weird at all, but still.

While he’s too busy being an overthinking idiot, she looks down at his chest and her smile turns into an amused grin. “Nice t-shirt,” she says, pointing at it with her chin, and he looks down in surprise.

It’s his ‘ _Geometry keeps me in shape_ ’ t-shirt, the one he always uses as a – not very effective – argument not to work out with Hunter and Mack when he doesn’t feel like it – which is, pretty much all the time. He doesn’t usually wears shirts with puns on it, but this one is kind of his favorite. Or was. Because all of a sudden it feels incredibly stupid and he wants to hide it.

Or at least he does until he looks up to meet her gaze again. He sees it filled with laughter, but a nice kind of laughter, not a ‘you’re deeply ridiculous’ kind of laughter. He lets out an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck and half shrugging, and her smile widens even more. “Ah, uh, yeah thanks.”

They stare at each other for a while longer, and he thinks he really needs to introduce himself, but them she’s nodding her head and taking a step back, hands wrapped around the straps of her backpack. “I gotta go, see you later?”

“Right, yes, later,” he lets out, and she smiles once more before walking away… and into the gym he just left minutes ago. He shakes his head, biting down his smile, and wonders if that’s a sign of the universe that he should actually start working out.

* * *

The fourth time she sees him, she _was_ having a really bad day.

Oh, well, maybe she’s being a little dramatic. She’s just tired. She’s been working a lot to prove herself, and it’s the end of the week, and yeah, she’s exhausted.

She loves working in a lab, and she definitely enjoys her new work at Sci-Ops, and her colleagues in the Biology department are all very nice, but sometimes she misses home a lot. It’s half past 7 at night, and it’s been a gloomy kind of day, with rain and thunder and cold wind, a kind of day she usually enjoys a lot but that is not appealing at all when you have to walk twenty minutes to finally get to back to your apartment after a long day of work.

She gets out of the building, motivating herself with warming thoughts of hot tea, fluffy blankets and probably one Doctor Who episode or ten. The freezing wind makes the flaps of her coat fly back as she does, and she wraps her scarf more efficiently around her neck, shivering.

Then she looks up and meets a somehow familiar pair of blue eyes. It’s only the fourth time she meets them – well, technically it’s the third time, because the second she only saw him in safety goggles – but somehow they still make her smile and warm her heart just a little, which is a little distracting, but she figures it’s okay.

Her soft smile turns into an amused one when she notices how little of his face she can actually see, because of the black woolen hat down to his eyebrows and how he’s tucked his chin into the collar of his coat. He really is cute.

“Nice scarf,” he tells her, and her smile widens as she looks down at it.

“Proud Ravenclaw,” she retorts with a smirk, and he chuckles in his coat.

She wonders if it can be said that this has become their _thing_. After all, it is the fourth time they meet, and the fourth time one of them compliments the other on something. Can you have a ‘ _thing_ ’ for a complete stranger? Gosh, she doesn’t even know his name. She wanted to ask him last time they saw each other, but she got a little distracted wondering if they both went at the same gym or if it was just a coincidence. It had looked like he was getting out of the building when they’d run into each other, but he didn’t exactly look like he’d just finished working out or anything. But maybe he’d taken a shower or something.

Oh Gosh, and now she’s thinking about him in the shower, how very smart of her.

“Going home?” he asks, and he looks a little shy all of a sudden, balancing on the balls of his feet.

“Yeah, you too?” she answers, and he nods. They stare at each other for a moment, and her hands are freezing holding onto the handle of her bag but she can’t seem to be able to move anymore, lost as she is in these strikingly blue eyes. This is extremely generic conversation, and yet she doesn’t mind it at all, for some reason.

“So um, have a nice weekend?”

It comes out of his mouth as a question, and it makes her chuckle. They’re both as bad as each other at this, and it’s kind of fun, she has to admit it. “Have a nice weekend too,” she says, and they walk their separate ways with one last nod and grin. Next time she’ll ask for his name, she thinks.

Or maybe not, it’s kind of fun to call him Scottish Cutie in her head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day she compliments him on his ‘monkeys in Santa’s hats’ tie, he wonders if it would be weird to ask her to marry him here and there.  
> Probably.  
> He doesn’t even know her name.  
> It’s been a month, maybe it’s time to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! :D  
> Thanks for all the kudos on last chapter! If you haven't noticed I changed the number of chapters from 3 to 4 because of who I am as a person xD  
> Enjoy!!

It keeps happening after that. Fitz kind of breaks the pattern the next time they see each other, because he compliments her on her Doctor Who tote bag. She tells him with a smirk that it was her turn to compliment him and he blushes when she adds that she’s going to have to rectify things. She does. The next time they run into each other in front of the building one Tuesday night after work, she tells him she likes his new haircut before he can even comment on her red Converse, and the time after that, in the cafeteria, she compliments his Minecraft wallet at the counter.

He doesn’t know if it’s the same for her, but it kind of becomes a game for him after that. He wakes up every morning trying to find a particular accessory or piece of clothe that could grab her attention – she seems to be just as much of a nerd as he is, which is thrilling – and hoping he’ll get to see her. He still doesn’t know her name, but he kind of likes the mystery behind it, and refers to her as _Her_ _with a capital H_ in his head when he thinks about her.

After a few days he notices she grabs lunch at 12:45 everyday, and he finds himself not missing any lunch after that. Mack obviously grills him about it, since he usually very often misses lunch because he’s too focused on his work, but Fitz just lies and tells him he’s trying to get healthier eating habits.

One day he still gets a little late – the Golden Retrievers are acting up and driving him crazy today – and he runs down to the cafeteria in an almost panic when he realizes it’s a quarter past one already. He catches her just as she’s leaving the cafeteria, and his heart skips a beat when her face lights up instantly when she sees him.

It must be very obvious that he was just running because she gives him an amused smirk and a questioning eyebrow raise. He stammers something that doesn’t make any sense even to him, and her smile widens even more, which he didn’t think would be possible.

“ _Bon appétit_ ,” she tells him in response, and he just nods, his mouth very dry for some reason.

She doesn’t say anything else, and it’s the first time neither of them compliments the other on something, but she doesn’t leave him the time to feel disappointed about it because when she walks past him, her shoulder brushes his – when it definitely was _not_ necessary since the hallway is empty and fairly large. His heart jumps in his chest when he catches a whiff of her fruity perfume, and then she’s walking away and he’s turning around to watch her go, a surprised and very pleased smile stretching his lips.

She doesn’t look back, but even from where he stands he can feel her radiating smile without even seeing it.

It happens a lot more after that. Soft little touches here and there that set his heart on fire anytime it happens. A nudge of her elbow against his while they wait side by side for their food, trays in hands. His hand lightly brushing against her back when he holds the cafeteria door open for her. Fingers bumping when they reach for cutlery at the same time.

They never eat together, and actually they barely even talk to each other either, but they always see each other for a few seconds every day during lunch. Their eyes are consistently searching for each other across the cafeteria while they eat, and it doesn’t take long for Mack to notice it. His friend obviously tries to boost his confidence up and to convince him to go talk to her for _real_ because it’s apparently obvious that she’s interested, but Fitz is too fond of their little game to change it right away, even if Mack does have a point.

The day she compliments him on his ‘monkeys in Santa’s hats’ tie, he wonders if it would be weird to ask her to marry him here and there.

Probably.

He doesn’t even know her name.

It’s been a month, maybe it’s time to move forward.

Yes, he’s gonna do this. Next time he sees her, he’ll talk to her, introduce himself, ask for her name. Hopefully she’ll tell him. What if she actually likes it better not to know? What if she gets tired of their little flirty game when the mystery of his name gets lifted up? He spends his entire afternoon overthinking all of this and getting very little work done. Seeing how distracted he is, Mack pries to try and figure out why, but Fitz holds his ground and Mack eventually sends him home early.

He presses the call button of the elevator and waits, still very much pondering over what to say when he sees her again. He gets into the elevator when it arrives, pressing the button. When it stops at level 3, he barely has time to consider the idea that maybe she’s waiting on the other side of the doors, and then she’s walking inside the elevator, with her soft smile and chocolate curls and his brain just stops working altogether.

“Hi again,” she tells him with a grin, coming to stand at his side.

“Hi,” he nods politely, and is suddenly very aware of his arms and how he’s supposed to hold them. Or how he’s supposed to _stand_ really. The silence stretches between them as the doors close again, and he’s racking his brain to find something to say. “Did you have a good day?” he asks eventually, when they’re almost to the ground floor and the elevator slows its descent.

He glances at her and she’s smiling softly at him. His heart is pounding and he hopes she can’t hear it – which obviously she can’t, but still, somehow that’s what he’s hoping for at the moment.

“I had a great day,” she tells him with a nod, “what about you?”

“I, uh, yeah,” he stammers, and the elevator dings.

She goes out first, and he follows after her. They fall into steps easily and walk out of the building in silence, their hands brushing once and sending tremors through his entire body when they do. They stop on the sidewalk at the same time, facing each other, and there’s a tension between them that is sending his heart pounding and is also melting his brain entirely, he thinks.

She’s staring at him with half a smile, almost expectantly he thinks, and after a few seconds he clears his throat and takes the leap.

“I’m Fitz– Leo, um, Leopold Fitz, engineer,” he stammers out, and instantly hates himself for it.

But he’s holding his hand out and she grabs it without hesitating, a small smile on her lips. They shake hands, and her fingers are very cold against his warm ones, and maybe that’s why a shiver runs up his arm and down his spine, but also maybe not at all.

“Nice to meet you, Leo Leopold Fitz, engineer,” she chuckles, and he does his best to glare at her but fails entirely because of the smile stretching his own lips. “I’m Jemma Simmons, biochemist.”

“Nice to meet you, Jemma Simmons, biochemist,” he replies, and she chuckles again. They let go of each other’s hand at the same time, and he wonders if she feels as disappointed as he does. They stare at each other for a while longer, and the tension is still there, he thinks, but somehow it’s less uncomfortable now and more _expectant_ , in a way.

“Jemma!”

She turns around at the sound of her name, and a little part of him is extremely delighted that she didn’t give him a fake name, which is obviously very ridiculous, but still. He follows her gaze to a woman with brown hair waving to her on the other side of the street.

“That’s my friend, Daisy,” she – _Jemma_ – explains, turning back to him with somewhat of an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I have to go, it was very nice to talk to you.”

“It was,” he agrees, and his cheeks are feeling a little hot all of a sudden.

“Have a nice evening, Leopold Fitz, engineer,” she adds, taking a few steps backwards, her smile wide and beautiful.

“Have a nice evening too, Jemma Simmons, biochemist,” he nods, and he’s smiling too, his heart pounding happily in his chest. She nods too, then turns around to go meet with her friend, and he tries not too but fails and just watches her go. When she’s crossed the street she turns back to him and gives him a little wave of her hand, and Fitz waves back too, and maybe it’s ridiculous but he doesn’t think he’s been this happy in a long, long time.

And it definitely feels nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of this chapter! :D Thank you very much for reading ♥


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She might be overly enthusiastic about the whole thing, but if she believed in signs from the Universe, she thinks this would be a pretty good one that tonight is the night for them to really become friends – or more. Preferably more.  
> “Great minds think alike,” he chuckles, and his blue eyes are bright with amusement in the Christmas lights of the room, and she really likes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I had an ounce of self control I would wait for December 1st to post this, but I absolutely do not have any self control whatsoever, so yeah.   
> It's November 21st, close enough right? LOL  
> Enjoyyyy

“Oh my _God_ it’s so ugly you’re definitely gonna win.”

“Why thank you,” Jemma smirks, giving Daisy a side-eye in the mirror before looking back at her reflection. She’s paying extra close attention to apply her make-up tonight, although she’s definitely not going to admit _why_ to her noisy best-friend/roommate. She takes one last critical look in the mirror before turning around to face Daisy with a little flourish of her arms. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous and ridiculous.”

“I still don’t think I’m going to win,” she says with a small shrug, turning the bathroom light off and following Daisy to the living-room. “I’ve heard that people in Engineering make their own with light effects and everything.”

Because apparently, the ugly Christmas sweater party at Sci-Ops is a _very_ big deal.

“’People’ in Engineering huh?” Daisy retorts, air-quoting ‘people’ with a very knowing – and very annoying – grin, and Jemma rolls her eyes.

“I only had two weeks to prepare after all, so that’s why I’m going with this fairly classic one,” she continues, deciding to just ignore her.

“Riiiiiight, you definitely couldn’t have come up with something better than a Doctor Who Christmas sweater in two weeks,” Daisy nods, still smirking, “and obviously you didn’t choose this one in particular because you knew a certain someone would like it.”

“I have no idea who you’re referring to.”

“You’re such a terrible liar Simmons.” Daisy shakes her head in disbelief, and Jemma bites down her smile, picking up her coat and sliding it on. She gives her friend a warm hug before grabbing her hand bag and opening the door, stopping for a second to make sure she has everything. She only realizes her mistake when Daisy gives her a mischievous smile. “Hey, who knows,” she tells her, just as she’s about to leave for good. “Maybe your little Scottish scientist will like it enough to tear it off you!”

Jemma glares at her, cheeks a little pink, and slams the door close before her noisy best-friend can add anything else embarrassing. Daisy’s familiar laugh echoes loudly behind her and she shakes her head at her antics, half-annoyed half-amused. Then she gets moving, ignoring her slightly quickened heartbeat.

She doesn’t _know_ if Fitz would be the kind to tear anything off of anyone, and she might not be willing to admit it to Daisy – because that would be giving her teasing opportunities and she would never hear the end of it – but she _is_ willing to admit to herself that maybe she would like it if he _were_.

Or if he were the kind to just ask people out.

They’ve kept their little flirty game going for the last few weeks, complimenting each other every day. She knows he’s coming down to the cafeteria at the same time as she does to see her – or at least she highly suspects it, because she’s heard the very tall man he’s friends with ask him how on Earth he managed to stop skipping meals like he always apparently did before. Fitz had met her eyes then, and had instantly and very obviously blushed, and she’s pretty sure that was confirmation in itself.

But in the few weeks since they properly introduced themselves, nothing much has changed, and alright, maybe she’s getting a little impatient, and maybe she’s kind of hoping to get things moving tonight. To be fair to him though, he did take the first step and gave her his name first, so maybe he’s just waiting for her to take the next step if she wants to. It would make sense for him to think that way, she thinks. After all, he definitely seems to be a very sweet and thoughtful person, if the way he’s acting with her is any indication.

He’s sweet, and cute, and obviously smart, and apparently he also likes her. But he’s also very shy, so maybe it’s time for her to take matter in her own hands, she thinks, in spite of her own shyness and awkwardness. Because it’s been a month and a half since their first encounter, and she really wants to get to know him better.

And she also kind of really wants to know what his pretty lips taste like, too.

But only if he wants to, obviously!

_Ahem_.

The office party is held in the cafeteria, which has been sparsely decorated for the occasion. Jemma makes her way into the large room, smiling in amusement at the extremely diverse attires of her colleagues. She spots a couple of very flashy Rudolph ones, funky snowmen, someone who wrapped themselves in wrapping paper with a bow on top of their head, and even Director Coulson with a grumpy cat sweater saying ‘No! No! No!’ Santa style. Although deeply amused, Jemma’s also feeling a little nervous, which is kind of ridiculous because her own TARDIS blue Christmas sweater isn’t that remarkable really. But thinking about it more fully, maybe she’s a little nervous for an entire other reason than appearing ridiculous in front of her co-workers.

She graciously accepts the champagne a waiter offers her, thinking to herself this might help with her nerves. It’s a little ridiculous, she probably has nothing to worry about, because it does seem pretty obvious that Fitz likes her – they’ve been flirting for a month and half after all, _well_ , flirting in the own very nerdy, very shy way, but still. She takes a couple of gulps, the light bubbles tickling her nose, and she wonders for a second what would happen if she just came up to him and kissed him just like that.

Obviously that’s not something she would do – she’s definitely not very good at improvising things like that – but still, that would probably be a little – or a lot – fun. He would get so _red_ , that’s one sure thing, she thinks.

Her eyes are scanning the crowd while she’s musing, and she realizes she’s unconsciously looking for him. She spots his tall friend – she’s pretty sure his name is Mack – but there’s no sign of Fitz anywhere. Maybe he isn’t there yet. Or maybe he’s not coming. Her expression falters at that thought, and she tries not to focus on how bummed she would be if he indeed wasn’t coming.

Then someone taps on her shoulder lightly and she turns around, coming face to face with a pair of familiar blue eyes, and the shy smile accompanying them. She tries not to grin too widely when she recognizes him, but she’s not entirely sure she manages that, and from the way his own eyes light up, maybe that’s okay.

“Hello Fitz,” she tells him with a grin, to which he responds in kind. She’s noticed that everyone calls him that, and not Leo or Leopold, so she figured that’s what he likes best.

“Jemma, hi,” he smiles again, reaching to scratch the back of his neck – something he does whenever he feels a little shy, which is cute. To be fair though, she kind of thinks everything he does is cute, but that’s another subject.

His gesture pulls her attention to his sweater and she lets out a disbelieving laugh. “No way!” Seeing his surprised look, she points to his sweater then hers, and it’s his turn to chuckle. He’s also wearing a Doctor Who Christmas sweater, but his is bright red with Daleks, a couple of TARDIS, and a few weeping Angels on it.

She might be overly enthusiastic about the whole thing, but if she believed in signs from the Universe, she thinks this would be a pretty good one that tonight is _the_ night for them to really become friends – or more. Preferably more.

“Great minds think alike,” he chuckles, and his blue eyes are bright with amusement in the Christmas lights of the room, and she really likes it. She’s about to reach for him – she’s not exactly sure what for – when someone else beats her to it.

“Turbo!” It’s his tall friend, Mack she thinks. He slams his hand on the back of Fitz’ shoulder, and Jemma bites down a chuckle when he pulls a pained expression because of it. The man is wearing a red sweater with a Christmas tree adorned with tons of colorful blinking LEDs, which is definitely conspicuous for a man his size and stature, and also very unexpected – and _funny_.

“Mack, hey,” Fitz grumbles a little, but his friend has already turned to look at Jemma with a curious expression. She opens her mouth to introduce herself, but somehow Fitz beats her to it, pointing to his friend with his thumb: “This is my best friend, Alfonso Mackenzie, but you can call him Mack. Mack, this is–”

“The famous Jemma Simmons,” Mack finishes for him, shaking her hand with a grin. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he adds, and she obviously doesn’t know him but she thinks his tone might have switched from polite to a little cheeky.

When she glances at Fitz and sees the very obvious blush spreading on his cheeks, she has to look down at her feet not to smile too much. So he’s talking to his friend about her then. This is quite an interesting piece of information to behold, isn’t it?

Coming here tonight, she hoped things would finally move forward between them.

Five minutes in, and she’s positive it’s pretty likely that they will.

And that’s quite exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to hear what you guys thought of this chapter! :D please feel free to comment, I promise I don't bite! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I mean, I _can_ believe it, I actually thought everyone at Sci-Ops would know it because _duh_ , life skills, but apparently you’re the only one.”  
> “Maybe other people spotted it but just didn’t make a big deal out of it,” she tempers behind his back, and he runs a hand through his hair.  
> “Or maybe they’re all idiots.”  
> “ _Fitz_ ,” she admonishes, but even without seeing her face he knows she’s smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter got completely out of hand :D  
> Enjoy these 3 582 words of aljdsdljsqkdljazieuazpsdlk I mean I wrote this and I was like ezadjqslkdjlqsjdql and then I proof-read it and I was like zakljslkdjlksqjdlaz and really I'm just extremely excited for you guys to read this because it's one of my favorite things I've ever written :D a little precision, with every horizontal ligne we change POV! :)  
> Enjoy!! ♥

Fitz stands there awkwardly as Mack makes an attempt at small talk, listening closely for the inevitable embarrassing thing his friend is obviously going to let out about him. He knows it’s coming, because Mack keeps glancing at him with an amused grin, and he hates waiting for it and not being able to just prevent it. He really would like to, but he doesn’t exactly know _how_.

Especially with Jemma seemingly so invested in the conversation.

Mack asks her what she’s working on, then if she likes to work at Sci-Ops, and Fitz realizes he might feel a little jealous of his best friend, because he’s wanted to ask her that for a long time now. Just never found the right moment – or the guts, maybe – to do it. He’s always been achingly shy all his life, and his nervousness and social ineptitude seem magnified in Jemma’s presence – but also not that much at the same time, since he’s been shamelessly flirting with her for so long now!

He really has no idea how to approach any of this, and it’s driving him a little mad.

“So Sheffield huh?” Mack asks with raised eyebrows, glancing at Fitz for a split second. “No wonder this one likes you so much, you remind him of home!”

“Okayyyy,” Fitz swoops in, cheeks burning, cursing himself for not interrupting him sooner, “Mack, don’t you have to go look for Yo-yo or something?” He intently avoids Jemma’s gaze, focusing on the very self-satisfied look on Mack’s face. “Like, now?”

The tall man’s cheeky grin is deeply infuriating, but to Fitz’ surprise he actually nods. “Yeah you’re right, I actually wanted to talk to her about _this_ ,” – he gestures to his very conspicuous sweater, and Fitz hears Jemma’s chuckle at that – “I think there’s something wrong with the lights, they keep blinking in and out and I can’t find the remote control to change the settings, she probably has it.”

It’s Fitz’ turn to bite down his own chuckle, looking down at his feet, and luckily Mack doesn’t seem to notice it.

“Anyway,” his best friend says, clapping his hands once and turning a nice smile to Jemma. “It was nice to finally meet you, Miss Simmons.”

“Please, you can call me Jemma,” she says with a warm smile, and Fitz glances at her, his heart jumping in his chest for no reason. “It was very nice meeting you too.”

“I’ll see you two around,” Mack adds with a very obvious wink to Fitz’ attention, and he rolls his eyes with a groan. His best friend barks out a laugh before walking away, leaving a very self-conscious Fitz standing awkwardly next to the amazing person that is Jemma Simmons. He’s not really sure what to say or do now, the plan he’d forged in his head before the party long gone because apparently that’s what she does to him.

Makes his usually very active brain just _stop_ _working_. How unfortunate.

He chances a glance at her again, and sees she’s watching Mack leave with somewhat of a light frown and a thoughtful expression on her face that he cannot explain. Seeing the empty flute in her hand, he ponders for a second then hears himself ask quietly: “More champagne?” In retrospective, it sounds a little dumb, but then she turns her brown eyes back to him and gives him a nice smile, and he figures he’s still good.

This is all extremely nerve-wracking to say the least, but it’s made a little – a lot – better when she smiles at him that way, he thinks.

* * *

“More champagne?”

Jemma turns to him, noticing his still slightly pink cheeks, and she cannot help her soft smile at this sight. The way his best friend acted just now, obviously trying to embarrass him just a little – but in a kind and funny way, she thinks – is enough confirmation for her that he is into her, and probably wants more than this flirty little game they’ve got going on. Which means that there’s only one thing left to do now: stir them both in the right direction.

She can manage to do that, right?

“Sure,” she nods with another smile, gesturing to the bar area on the other side of the room. The satisfied – and maybe slightly relieved – look he gives her makes her heartbeat quicken for ‘some’ reason, and she smiles to herself because of it. She really has no idea how she fell so quickly into this, but it’s definitely fun – and interesting.

And exciting.

They walk side by side, and when Jemma ‘accidentally’ lets her hand brush his, he doesn’t shy away like he usually always does.

Alright, she kind of feels like a schoolgirl at the moment, but she figures it’s okay.

Once at the bar, she watches as he grabs a bottle of champagne and refills her glass before filling one for himself, and she jumps into action before she can talk herself out of it. She nudges him lightly and asks, eyebrow raised: “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

Poor Fitz looks at her in terror, his cheeks tinted in red again, and she bites down her smile when he starts to stutter. “Wh– what n-n-no of course not I–”

“Good to know,” she interrupts him before he starts rambling, “then I need some food with this, because a second glass on an empty stomach is probably not a good idea.”

“Right,” he agrees after a second of hesitation, probably set back at ease by the wide smile she cannot help herself from giving him. “I think I saw a table with canapes over there.”

“Great! I always feel like a giant when I eat food like this.”

The delighted look in his eyes makes her chuckle instantly. “Me too!” he exclaims, as they start walking towards where he said there was food.

She feels a shiver running up her arm when their fingers brush again, because this time she was not the one initiating contact. She doesn’t think she’s ever felt this excited about a ‘date’ before. Not that this really _feels_ like a date of any sort. She doesn’t know exactly what this feels like. All she knows is that she cannot wait to see where _this_ is going.

“I can’t imagine what it feels like for him with his giant hands,” Fitz whispers as they walk near Mack and a beautiful woman locked in what seems to be an argument about the remote control he mentioned earlier.

Jemma thinks she probably should find something to say in response, but the part of her brain – Broca’s area to be precise – that controls speech production seems to be malfunctioning all of a sudden. She figures that he’s talking about canapes and feeling like a giant, but the thing is, he’s moved closer to her to say that, closer than he’s ever been before, and she felt his breath on the side of her neck when he spoke, and caught a whiff of his cologne when he did.

She wouldn’t have thought this would be so distracting, but it apparently is.

_Quick, find something to say._

Her gaze falls on Mack again, and she frowns, her earlier impression coming back full force. Unconsciously she slows down her steps, grabbing Fitz’s forearm before he can walk away. There’s something here, she doesn’t know if she’s being crazy or not, and maybe he can help with that. “Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, but does it look like Mack’s sweater is blinking something in Morse code?”

* * *

“You know Morse code?” Fitz whispers in awe, and she gives him a look that he easily translates as something like ‘ _of course I know Morse code who do you think I am?_ ’ and it makes him chuckle. He’s still a little distracted by her grip on his forearm, but there’s also pure excitement at the idea that she might find his prank funny, and that’s _great_. He wasn’t even sure anyone would, but if he’s honest with himself – which he is – if _she_ does, then the others don’t matter at all.

He can’t tell her about it here though, so close to the subject of said prank. He doesn’t exactly think through what he does next – obviously, because otherwise he’s pretty sure he would have done it. He just grabs her hand in his, and nods towards the corner beside the large double doors leading to the outside lunching area. There’s a little empty corner there in between a potted plant and a large window where they should be able to talk privately. “Can I show you something?”

She gives him a curious look at that, and his cheeks feel very hot all of a sudden when he realizes what he’s doing. He’s grabbed her hand without asking! What if she hates it? What if she slaps him right in the face and–

But then she nods with a small smile and lightly presses his hand in hers, making it impossible for him to let go, and he thinks his heart is probably about to explode. He tugs softly on her arm and she follows him, and he takes this opportunity to try and focus on what he’s about to _say_ instead of on what he really wants to _do_.

She might not mind him taking her hand like that, but if he starts kissing her the way he really wants to, she probably would. No, _no_ , no thinking about kisses for now. Maybe later. Maybe. Only if she wants to, obviously.

They hide in the little corner, and he feels a little sad to drop her hand but he needs them both at the moment. He sets his glass on the edge of the large window and she does too. She’s still looking at him very curiously, and it’s making his heart pound faster and faster in his chest. He takes something out of the back pocket of his pants, and shows it to her, after making sure no one is looking.

“ _I_ have the remote control,” he tells her, and the curious smile on Jemma’s lips morphs into a surprised and amused smirk when she grabs the remote from him.

“Really? Well I’m impressed!” she whispers, and he really wishes he would stop blushing to everything she says or does to him. “Did you steal it?”

“More like borrowed it?” he retorts with a slight frown, and she laughs. She’s observing the remote closely, and he launches himself in his explanations, surprised that talking science with her seems almost easy – compared to how usually nerve-wracking it is to talk to her. “See, this is your usual, basic remote control for basic Christmas light strings, but I upgraded it to mess with the settings and control the frequency with which the LED blink, as well as the duration of each blink. It’s quite simple really. The same way you would with a recorder, you press this button to start recording, this one to record your message, then this one again, and then the program plays it on repeat until you decide to change the message again. Right now it’s encoding–”

“SOS,” she finishes for him with a grin. “That’s a classic.”

“Yeah, I wanted to find something better but–”

“Can I try?” she asks before he can explain how little time he had, and he nods, smiling at her enthusiasm. She’s chewing on her lip, deep in thoughts, and he can’t help his staring until she looks up and meets his eyes… and waves her hand right in his face. “Don’t look,” she tells him sternly. “And then you’ll try and guess, hopefully I’m not too rusty.”

She’s looking at him so expectantly by the end of her sentence that he chuckles, raising his hands in front of him before turning his back to her. His cheeks are almost hurting from smiling too much, and he loves it. “I can’t believe you know Morse code.” Her little scoff at that makes him actually laugh, and he shakes his head. “I mean, I _can_ believe it, I actually thought everyone at Sci-Ops would know it because _duh_ , life skills, but apparently you’re the only one.”

“Maybe other people spotted it but just didn’t make a big deal out of it,” she tempers behind his back, and he runs a hand through his hair.

“Or maybe they’re all idiots.”

“ _Fitz_ ,” she admonishes, but even without seeing her face he knows she’s smiling. “Alright, I think I’m done now, you can look,” she tells him after a few more seconds. He turns around, giving her a small smile before looking around for Mack in the crowd – which is always an easy task, and is now even easier with him wearing that sweater in particular. “It’s fairly long, feel free to write it down if it’s too difficult for you,” Jemma adds cheekily right as he spots him, and he turns to her with a disbelieving scoff.

“ _Please_.”

* * *

Fitz looks almost insulted, shaking his head and looking back at Mack and his Morse code sweater, and Jemma has to bite down her chuckle. She unashamedly stares at him while he deciphers the message, muttering letters under his breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The first part of her plan is underway, and she cannot wait to reach its second part – the most exciting, albeit a little scary one.

It only takes Fitz a minute to decipher the message, and then he’s turning back to her with wide eyes and a very dramatic expression that has her chuckle before he even opens his mouth. “Don’t blink,” he gasps in mock fear, and she bursts out laughing. He joins her after a second, and it takes them a little while to regain their calm. “Nice one,” he says in an appreciative tone after a moment, “much better than the old SOS, I admit.”

“I think I have another idea,” Jemma tells him, and his cheeks redden instantly when she winks at him. She presses the recording button but to her great surprise he actually snatches the remote control from her hands with a very unfamiliar expression on his face.

“Nope, it’s my turn now,” he retorts, and he looks _smug_ , and she’s never seen this look on his face before and definitely wouldn’t have thought it possible, but somehow it _works_ , and it might be a little – or a lot – attractive too? Ugh, she just can’t with this one. It’s his turn to look at her expectantly, and she turns around with a grin, somehow very pleased with this unexpected turn of events.

Even if it slightly postpones her own plan.

Her hyper active brain tries to figure out what he could possibly be encoding, and she comes up with a dozen possibilities before he’s done, most of them including Doctor Who references because that makes sense. She kind of wants to beat his time, which is not surprising because she’s always been quite competitive, but is also very different from how they’ve been with each other thus far. And she must say, she loves it.

“Alright I’m done,”he tells her, and she turns to him with a small grin. He’s still smiling cheekily at her, and it makes her heart jump in her chest for some reason. But she has a task at hand though, so she just rolls her eyes at him then looks for Mack. He’s pretty easy to spot, with him being all tall and wrapped in Christmas lights, and she gets started on decoding the message.

She’s not as fast as him, but to be fair his message is also a lot longer. _And_ she can also feel his eyes on her face, which is very distracting. Distracting enough that at first she thinks she read it wrong. She watches another two times to make sure, and then she meets his gaze. Her heart is so loud in her ears she’s pretty sure he can hear it. He’s not looking smug anymore. He’s looking a little shy, a little hopeful, his blue eyes piercing and his lips stretched in a tiny grin, and she just wants to close the distance between them for good.

But she also kind of really wants to go through with her plan as well, so she doesn’t just yet.

She does take a step closer though, and watches as Fitz takes a sharp breath, smiling to herself because of how cute he is. She has to give it to him, it is very cute of him to ask her out via a Morse code message from across the room on his best friend’s ugly Christmas sweater, but she still likes her idea a little more.

She makes sure he sees that she _knows_ what he asked her, without saying the words, and from the look in his eyes, she knows he does. She slowly reaches for the remote control in his hand, keeping eye contact, and lets her fingers brush his a little longer than necessary. “My turn,” she whispers, and Fitz nods, his eyes drifting to her lips for just a second before looking up again. They’re very close now, and the tension between them is as thick as can be, making her heart pound and her fingers shake a little.

She doesn’t ask him to turn around this time.

She just starts encoding.

−·− ·· ··· ··· −− · ··−−··

* * *

_Kiss me?_

Fitz knows he’s got it right.

He knows the second she types the two dots of the i.

The rest of it only confirms it.

He knows it, he knows he’s right, there’s no doubt in his mind.

And yet when he looks up to meet Jemma’s eyes, it’s with his own shy and tentative smile, because he still can’t quite believe his luck.

She’s looking straight at him, and there’s a slight hint of nervousness on her face as well. It makes his heart soar in his chest, and when he moves it’s in this barely conscious kind of floating way, like he is in a dream or something.

Then his hand softly cups her cheek and his entire nervous system ignites, sending shivers down his spine. She leans into his palm, her eyes fluttering at the same time as his heart. They’re so close he can feel her breath on his face.

Their lips meet in the middle, and his heart seems to explode in his chest as they do. For all he knows he could be having a stroke or the building could be collapsing around them, and he wouldn’t care.

He wouldn’t care, because he’s kissing Jemma Simmons, and there’s absolutely nothing else that matters at the moment.

* * *

“Just so we’re clear,” Jemma whispers breathlessly against his lips after a while, “I really do want to go out with you.” Her heart is hammering in her chest, almost like it’s going to beat right out of her, but she barely registers it, because her hands are on Fitz’ face and his hands are wrapped around her waist, and they’re _kissing_.

Or at least they _were_ , right before she felt the compelling need to tell him that she wants to go out with him.

“Right, okay,” he nods, and his nose bumps her, making her chuckle. He kisses her smile, and she melts against his soft lips, until it’s his turn to lean back and chuckle. He seems amused, and she doesn’t exactly know why.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he laughs lightly, “I mean, I already kind of figured that out from the way you kissed me but–”

“Hey, I could’ve just wanted you for your body you know,” she retorts with a smirk, and poor Fitz blushes hard at that, apparently deeply shocked. She leans forward again, capturing his lips for a second before breaking the kiss. “But you know, it’s not just _that_ , I think I quite like that brain of yours too.”

She knows he’s probably blushing again, but he doesn’t let her see it and draws her back into a mind blowing kiss that has her sigh against his lips when it ends. “Good, that’s good,” he whispers quietly, and somehow it sends shivers of excitement down her spine.

Because he’s right, she thinks. It is really good.

* * *

By the end of the night, they’ve figured out two things.

The first one, is that they have almost the same amount of fun kissing each other than they have talking together about science – and pretty much anything else.

The second one, is that there’s at least one other person from Sci-Ops that knows Morse Code – and they figure that out when Director Coulson _kisses_ a very surprised Mack after giving him the award of the best and ugliest Christmas sweater of this year.

Somehow Mack instantly knows that Fitz is behind this – and he's only half wrong, because the message that they forgot to change is of Jemma’s doing – and Fitz tells Jemma that it was nice to meet her and spend their evening together before his inevitable death strangled by his giant best friend.

But despite Fitz’ tendency to be overly dramatic, and the fact that they actually have to explain what happened to both Mack and Director Coulson – who manage to perfectly hide their amusement behind stern faces – it definitely is a very nice night, in everyone’s opinion, but mostly theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it, please please tell me what you thought of this I'm just SO excited for you guys to read it because I love it SO MUCH! xD (you know when they say be your own targeted audience LOL)  
> Anyway, thank you very much for reading!! ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are deeply appreciated :D ❤️
> 
> (psssst I'm on Tumblr too!)


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